


Quick Fix and Heartbeats

by MayQueen517



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/F, Gen, M/M, Slice of Life, Team Bonding, Team as Family, featuring long held arguments that are basically excuses to wind each other up, sort of hinted at future Nile/Andy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25946338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayQueen517/pseuds/MayQueen517
Summary: Nile has seen a fair amount of dumb arguments. She has a brother, after all, and walking into the kitchen of the safehouse, she sees two things.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 20
Kudos: 364





	Quick Fix and Heartbeats

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AphroditesTummyRolls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AphroditesTummyRolls/gifts).



> Hello, again! So, I was chatting with AphroditesTummyRolls and we were joking about the team and Joe and Nicky and some of the arguments they have and I couldn't stop thinking about it.
> 
> So, here we are! It's a little ridiculous, but I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> I hope you like it!
> 
> (Title from Queen of Apology by The Sounds)

Nile has seen a fair amount of dumb arguments. She has a brother, after all, and walking into the kitchen of the safehouse, she sees two things.

First, Joe is pulling something out of the oven and is bickering with Nicky. There's a slight smile on both of their faces which tells Nile that this is an old, well-worn argument.

Second, Andy sits at the table, one hand over her eyes and the other clutching a bottle of vodka as if she were adrift at sea and has been thrown a life preserver.

Nile sets down the bag of produce, looking over at Andy. "You good?" she asks, arching an eyebrow as Andy peeks at her through her fingers. Andy's softer in some ways, harder in others, than when Nile first met her. Nile doesn't think about kissing her, nope; not at all.

"Oh, I'm fine," Andy says drolly, looking over to Joe and Nicky.

"I don't know where your hands have been," Joe says, trying to herd Nicky to the sink. Nicky scoffs, throwing his hands up.

"I have been with you all day, Yusuf!" Nicky protests. Nile watches them bicker while Andy leans back in her chair, taking a swig of her vodka.

"Okay, iron liver; why all," Nile gestures, "this?"

"Nicky doesn't think he should wash his hands before dinner," Joe says, accusingly. Nile blinks over at Nicky, his face resigned to his husband and the dinner before them.

"I don't see the point! I have been in this kitchen with you all evening, Yusuf!" Nicky says, lapsing into Italian as he and Joe start bickering again.

"Nile," Andy says, "I need you to remember, when I'm gone, this moment."

"Andy," Nile admonishes as Andy waves her off.

"No, I'm serious. Remember this. Because that? That's going to be your life," Andy says as Joe gestures wildly. Andy looks over at her, raising her eyebrow as she takes another swig of vodka.

Nile wonders, briefly, if Andy would share.

===

"What's with the handwashing thing?" Nile asks, later that night as Joe sketches and after Nicky has washed dishes. Andy's settled on the couch, drowsing in and out with her feet tucked under Nile's thigh.

"Don't get them started again," Andy groans and Nicky mutters mutinously under his breath.

"It is an argument we have had for decades," Joe says, as Nicky looks up from his book, a mutinous expression crossing his face.

"You have had the argument; I simply refuse to participate," Nicky sniffs. Nile can see the gleam in his eyes, impish and relaxed.

"This is like the directions thing, all over again!"

"You had us wandering around the city for _three hours_ , lost!"

"It was an adventure! Nico, please," Joe says, a grin tugging at his lips. Nile looks over to Andy, meeting drowsy eyes only to watch Andy shake her head in amusement.

"All the time," Andy mouths, rolling her eyes. Nile snickers, her hand resting on Andy's ankle, fighting the urge to stroke her thumb over the skin there. Andy shifts, watching Nile as she winks at her and Nile feels her cheeks heat up furiously as the argument winds down nearby.

"Why not use hand sanitizer?" Nile asks, pulling the blanket off of Andy's feet and draping it over her lap. Andy takes this as an invitation to prop her feet in Nile's lap. Nile huffs, hiding a smile as Nicky makes an outraged noise.

"It is my kitchen!"

"Our," Joe says mildly.

"Excuse me: our kitchen," Nicky says, "I have been preparing dinner! My hands were washed before I touched food, why do I have to wash my hands before we sit down to eat?"

"Good manners?" Andy asks, making Nicky scowl at her. Joe grins over at Nile, leaning back in his chair, sketchbook forgotten.

"You see what life I must lead, Nile?" Joe asks, draping his arm over his forehead dramatically, "I face these struggles and my only love, my Nicolo, is so intransigent."

"Intransigent!" Nicky exclaims, outrage on his face as he visibly fights down a laugh, "Don't let him fool you, Nile. And don't let him use the map on a mission."

Nicky stands, pressing a kiss to Joe's forehead as he wanders off into the kitchen, Joe finally giving into the laughter that’s been threatening him all evening. 

"You're all assholes, huh?" Nile asks, making Joe laugh harder. Andy yawns, shifting around and Nile curls a hand around her ankles, getting a smirk in response.

"Now you're catching on, Freeman."

===

Nile moves quietly through the courtyard, easy steps shadowed by Joe. It’s been the work of months as she accustoms herself to a new set of movements and a new squad. It’s different from the Merrick labs, falling into her own place, tracking her quarry with ease. It isn’t so different from basic, if she’s being honest.

Joe gives her a boost to peer in the window, laced fingers holding her easily as they hear the radio through the open window. The sound is low, the strains of crooning Italian drifting to them as her target moves around the kitchen. It’s the movement of habit, something she’s seen a million times as she looks down at Joe.

He’s got his hat turned backwards as he always does for missions and Nile grins as he pushes, letting her climb through the window. The house is small and open, out of the way but still close enough to the city center for a good walk. It’s a good location, she thinks, as she slips around the wall. 

The kitchen is warmer than the rest of the house as she readies her weapon of choice. Her target is lost in the music and lost in the preparation of lunch, reaching up to the cabinet for the places. She opens fire, spraying his hands liberally before she darts away, laughing.

Nicky shouts in outrage, rapid Italian that she understands a few words of that have Andy come running. The sanitizer is strong in the small kitchen and Nile slips the bottle into her pocket, looking over to the window. 

“Clear!” she calls out, grinning over at Nicky and his offended expression. Andy stands there, halfway into a shirt with a knife at the ready and Nile probably shouldn’t find that hot, but Andy with a knife is awfully captivating.

“Nile!” Nicky says, aghast as Joe boosts himself into the window, beaming. He high fives Nile as Nicky looks between them. 

“Betrayed. Betrayed by my hayati and Nile! How could you?” Nicky asks dramatically, humor on his face as Joe slings an arm around Nile’s shoulder, Nicky complaining the entire time. 

“Seems like you’re fitting in just fine,” Andy says, rolling her eyes as she pulls her shirt on the rest of the way. Nile lets Nicky squeeze her shoulder, he shakes his head as he puts the lunch on the table, kissing Joe before swatting him.

“Terrible. You’re all terrible people,” Nicky says, fondly. Andy snorts, crowding in beside Nile to wash their hands while Joe and Nicky murmur to each other. 

“If he kills you, I’m stealing your dessert,” Andy says, knocking her elbow into Nile’s. Nile snorts, knocking her right back. It isn’t a replacement for the family she lost when she first died, but another family that’s just as dear soothes some of the rough edges in the first year of immortality. 

Sitting beside Nicky, Nile watches Andy and Joe bicker, gesturing with mouths full of food, making Nicky shake his head. He shares a grin with Nile, passing her a napkin and silverware and not for the first time, Nile feels at home.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always down to chat and I'm ALWAYS taking prompts on [CactusDragon517 on Tumblr](https://cactusdragon517.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
